Paper-feeding device



Feb. 24, 1925.

' v M. LALONDE S2?! AL IAPER FEEDIM DEVICE.-

Filed A ril 10, 3,933

full

7 INVENTORS.

A TTORNEY;

Patented Feb.

unites stares MOSES LALONDE AND JOHN A SMEATON, OF SPEENGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

PAPER-FEEDING DEVICE.

Application filed. April 10,1923. Serial No. 631,182.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, Moses Lnnonnn, a subject of the King of England, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, and Jenn A. SMEA- TON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of said Springfield,

have invented a new and useful Paper-Feeding Device, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices for feeding sheets of paper individually from a package of the same, and consists generally of feeding rolls, operating means for said rolls, and an oscillatory lever or handle to actuate said operating means, together with suitable supporting or holding means for a package of paper, means to support the feeding mechanism in operative position relative to said package, and such other parts and members as may be necessary or desirable in order to render the device complete and serviceable in every respect, all as hereinafter set forth.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a device, which is comparatively inexpensive and simple in construction, simple and convenient in operation, and withal highly efficient, for feeding sheets of paper from the front side of a package of such sheets, or actuating the paper, sheet by sheet, into position where the same can be grasped between the thumb and finger and withdrawn entirely from the package.

this character that is operated by a single downward movement of a lever or handle, and without the exercise of any particular skill or care, such. as is required with other 40 feeding devices for a similar purpose. This device obviates the liability of forcing the paper in the wrong direction, or upwardly instead of downwardly, which is an important factor in paper-feeding appliances of the present type.

Although our feeding device is particularly designed for use in connection with toilet paper, it may be used in connection with paper towels. and other sheets of paper arranged in package formation and designed to be removed individually from the package.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

We attain the objects and secure the ad- Another object is to provide a device of,

vantages of our invention by the means and mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a paperfeeding device which embodies a practical form of our invention, showing the same in connection with a toilet-paper holder and a package of toilet paper supported by said holder; Fig. 2, a vertical section through said holder, package, and device. taken on lines 22, looking in the direction of the associated arrow, in Fig. 1, and, Fig. 3, an enlarged, rear elevation of said device, the bottom portion of the cover being broken off.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

Our paper-feeding device is preferably used in connection with a suitable backing, such as that represented at 1 in the first two views, which backing must be provided with supporting means for a package of paper, as 3, and with suitable supporting meansfor said device. In this case the supporting means for the package 8, consists of an inverted U-shaped wires. and a binder-wire 5 such as packages of toilet paper are usually provided with, and the supporting means for the paper-feeding device consists of a bail 6.

There is a vertical slot 7 in the center of the backing 1 near the top thereof, and that portion of said backing which is struck out to produce said slot is formed into a lug 8. The backing 1 has a rearwardly-extending flange 9 all around the edges thereof, and in the top part of said flange is an opening 10. The lug 8 extends rearwardly from the bottom edge of the slot 7 and has a depression therein which is directly beneath the opening 10. The rear arm of the support 4: extends downwardly through the opening 10, behind the slot 7, and is received by the depressed portion of the lug 8. The front arm of the support is in the form of a hook 11.

In mounting the package 3 in place, first the eye of the binder-wire 5 is passed through the slot 11, while the support 4 is elevated, and said support is lowered and the rear arm thereof passed through said eye into the depressed portion of the lug 8, and then the forward terminal of said binder-wire is engaged with the hook 11 and bent downwardly in front of said hook.

The construction and arrangement of parts are such that the binder-wire5 is supported in ahorizontal position, and in turn supports the package 3 in a vertical position against the face of the backing 1.

In each side piece of the flange 9 is a recess 12, Fig. 2, to receive the back reach of the bail 6, and such reach is held in such slot by means of horizontal, hooked lugs, one of which lugs is shown at 13 in said view. These lugs 13, like the lug 8, are struck out of the backing 1. The rear reach of the bail 6 is free to rock in the recesses (12) and the hooked portions of the lugs (13) and receive and engage the same, thus enabling said bail with the feeding device to be swung upwardly out of the way. while a ackage of paper is being placed in position in the holder, and then to be swung downwardly again to locate said device in operative position, and said bail to swing rearwardly with said device as the package diminishes in thickness.

Obviously our invention is not limited to the particular form of holder and supporting means, just described, for the paperfeeding device.

Directly supported from the bail 6 is a hanger which comprises two parallel, approximately vertical bars 12 which are spaced apart, provided with connecting means, and have outwardlyor laterally-extending arms 1515 at their upper ends. The bail 6 in front consists of two horizontal arms which are bent downwardly at their adjacent terminals and passed through open.- ingsin the arms 15. The aforesaid downwardly-extending portions of the bail 6,

' which are indicated by the numeral 16, are

screw-threadedto receive nuts 17-17 below the arms 15. In this manner and by tluse means the bars 14 are rigidly attached to the bail 6. V

A long horizontal shaft 18 is journaled in the bars 5 near the bottom ends thereof. a screw 19 is passed through said bars above said shaft, and a screw 20 is passed through said bars above said first-named screw, said screws being parallel with each other anl with said shaft. A pinion 21 is secured on the shaft 18 between the bars 14, and a feed roll 22 is secured on said shaft outside of each of said bars. Loosely mounted on th-- screw 19, between the bars 14 and intermcshing with the pinion 21, is agear 23. A spacer 24 is mounted on the screw 20 between the bars 14. The pinion 21, gear 23, and spacer 24 are all of the same width.

An operating lever or handle 25 has two side pieces or arms which are loosely mounted at their free terminals 011 the screw 19 outside of the bars 141. The head of the handle 25 is provided with a knob 26. A spring 27 has one terminal secured to the screw 20 between the head thereof and the adjacent bar 14, is passed to and looped around the screw 19 between the head thcrcof and the adjacent arm or side of the handle 25, and extends upwardl--- to have its free terminal engaged with the front edge of said side, as indicated at 28. The spring 27 is thus arranged so that it has a constanttendency to swing the arm 25 upwardly on the screw or pivot 19.

The screws 19 and 20 are provided respectively with nuts 29 and 30, and, when these nuts are tightened, the parts and members connected by said screws are securely fastened together and a sufficiently rigid structure for our purpose is produced. The nut 29 must not, of course. be screwed up tight enough to interfere with the rotation of the gear 23. The aforesaid screws and nuts, together with the spacer 24, constitute the connecting means for the bars 1-1. with the aid of which the hanger is produced.

A pawl 31 has its head loosely mounted on a horizontal pin 32 which extends between the arms of the handle 25. The free terminal of the pawl 31 is adapted to engage the gear 23, and is retained in such engage ment by means of a spring 33. The spring 33 has one terminal secured to the handle 29 by means of a screw 34, while the other ter minal of said spring bears on the pawl 31 in such a manner as to retain said pawl in engagement with the gear 23. The screw 3% also serves to secure the knob 26 to the head of the handle 25.

The rolls 22 may have abraded peripheral surfaces of any suitable character which enables them frictionally to engage and make a good working connection with the paper, or they or their peripheries may be constructed of rubber of a type or consisten cy that is adapted to carrydown the paper when said rolls are rotated. just as is the case when abraded peripheries are employed.

A cover 35 may be provided for the rolls 22, such cover having rearwardly-extending side pieces 3636 which are perforated to receive the terminals of the shaft 18, and may be sprung into and out of engagement with such shaft. At the top of the cover 35 are two lugs, ears, or clips 37 which are bent over the top, behind, and beneath the arms 15 to assist, with the shaft 18, in retaining said cover in place. The lugs 37 may be sufiiciently resilient or ductile, or both, to enable them to be engaged with and disengaged from the arms 15 at will. There is a longitudinal, central slot 38 in the cover 35 to accommodate the handle 25, and the top of said slot serves as a stop for the upward movement of said handle, the latter being normally retained in contact with said upper edge by means of the spring 27 The rolls 22 are the only members of the device which come into contact with the package 3, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The handle 25' extendsthrough the slot,

.38 in the cover 35, and projects beyond the latter, and, when the knob 26 is grasped and said handle is actuated downwardly, swinging on the pivot 19, the pawl 31, which is held in engagement with the teeth of the gear 23 by the spring 33. causes a partial revolution to be imparted to said gear, in the direction of the associated arrow in Fig. 2, and said gear in turn imparts a revolution or a part of a revolution to the pinion 21, in the direction of the associated arrow in said view, and the latter carries with it the shaft 18 and the rolls 22. Upon the release of the handle 25, the spring 27 immediately acts to throw said handle upwardly into its normal and initial position against the top of the slot 38. When the handle 25 moves upwardly the pawl 31 clicks past the teeth on the gear 23, so that said gear is not affected or actuated in a reverse direction. The only motion that can be imparted to the rolls 22 is, therefore, the motion which causes the paper to be fed downwardly. The bottom edge of the slot 38 is low enough to enable the required downward movement to be imparted to the handle.

In practice, the bail 6 with the feeding device is thrown up out of the way, the package 3 is placed in position, and said bail is swung downwardly again until the rolls 22 bear against the front of said package. After this the sheets of paper from the package 3 are fed downwardly, one at a time, by rocking the handle 25 downwardly and releasing the same for each sheet. Each time the handle 25 is rocked downwardly the necessary amount of rotation in the proper direction is imparted to the rolls 22 of the feeding device to carry down the foremost sheet of paper, tearing the same loose from the binder-wire 5, until said sheet at the bottom extends below the remaining portion of the package behind, and is in the position substantially as represented by dotted lines 39 in Fig. 2. This projecting portion of the sheet is grasped between the thumb and finger and said sheet withdrawn entirely from between the remaining portion of the package 3 and the rolls 22. In this manner one sheet after another is removed until the package is exhausted. the force of gravity operating to cause the feeding device to move back, as the package diminishes in thickness, and the rolls 22 to be retained in contact with the paper, until the last sheet has been withdrawn.

After one package has been exhausted the binder-wire 5 thereof is removed, and a fresh package is placed in position in the holder, in the manner hereinbefore described.

More or less change in the shape, size, construction, and arrangement of some or all of the parts of this device, as well as changes in the holder and supporting means, may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention or exceeding the scope of what is claimed.

What we claim as our inventon, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is V 1. The combination, in a paper-feeding device of the class described, with. a freely swinging bail supported at its upper end, bars spaced apart, secured to, and depending from the lower end of said bail, a shaft journaled in sa d bars, a pinion secured to said shaft between said bars, feeding rolls secured to said shaft outside of said bars, and a gear mounted to rotate'between said bars and intermesh with. said pinion, of a lever operatively connected with said bars. and provided with a pawl to engage said gear.

2. The comb nation, in a paper-feeding device of the class described. with a freely swinging bail supported at its upper end, bars spaced apart, secured to, and depending from the lower end of said bail, a shaft journaled in said bars, a pinion secured to said shaft between said bars, feeding rolls secured to said shaft outside of said bars. and a gear mounted to rotate between said bars and intermesh with said pinion, of a lever operatively connected with said bars. and provided with a. pawl to engage said gear, and a spring arranged to retain said lever normally in elevated and initial position.

3. The combination, in a paper-feeding device of the class described, with a freely swinging bail supported at its upper end, bars spaced apart, secured to, and depending from the lower end of said bail, a shaft journaled in sa d bars, a pinion secured to said shaft between said bars, feeding rolls secured to said shaft outside of said bars. an axial member mounted in said bars. and a gear mounted on said axial member and intermeshing with said pinion, of a handle also mounted on said axial member, and provided with av pawl to engage said gear. means to limit the upward movement of said handle, and a spring arranged normally to retain said handle in contact with said limiting means.

4;. A paper-feeding device, of the class described, comprising a freely swinging bail supported at its upper end. bars spaced apart, secured to, and depending from the lower end of said bail, a shaft iournaled in said bars, a pinion secured to said shaft be tween said bars, feeding rolls secured to said shaft outside of said bars, a gear mounted. to rotate between said bars and intermesh with said pinion, a slotted cover attached to said bars and having perforated side pieces to receive said shaft, and an upwardly spring-pressed handle operatively connectfed with said bars and extending through the slot in said cover, and being provided with engaging means for said gear.

5. The combination, in a paper-feeding device, with a holder for a package of sheets of paper, and a freely swinging bail supported at its upper end from said holder, of a hanger having laterally-extending arms, means rigidly to attach said arms to said bail at the lower end thereof, feeding rolls and operating means therefor carried by said hanger. a slotted cover having clips attached to said arms, and perforated side pieces to receive said shaft, and an upwardly erating means.

MOSES LALONDE. JOHN A, SMEATON. Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, VALTER T. STEPHENS. 

